Vendetta
by Eosophobia-3
Summary: It's been six years since the Volturi accepted the fact that Renesmee was of little threat, however, when some 'Children of the Moon' arrive, what will happen when they pledge a vendetta to destroy her? It's not only vampires that can have gifts...
1. Proud

**Okay, so I decided to write another fanfic; I didn't make up Twilight, Stephanie Meyer did, although I wish I had! I just like to write about it. This is set six years after the end of Breaking Dawn --- DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ BREAKING DAWN!**

**Hope you enjoy :)**

**Proud**

It had been just over six years since I'd made the greatest decision of my life: ringing Rosalie when I'd found out that I was pregnant with Renesmee. Of course I didn't know at the time that it was a girl, or even if it was human, I'd only known that she was a little nudger, _my_ little nudger, and I loved her will all of my heart. And now she was running beside me, fast as lightening through the thick trees; she took after her father on that part. I watched, fascinated, as her long, wavy bronze hair swirled behind her, encasing her face like a bronze halo. Although she was only six years old, she looked about 16, with long legs and a small chest protruding from her light blue blouse, courtesy of Alice. But her face still seemed younger, her cheek bones were more rounded than most sixteen year olds and her full lips were always pulled up into a smile. She wouldn't get any older, trapped in this young, slender body for the rest of her days.

Renesmee slowed then and turned her head towards me, her deep brown eyes focusing on my proud gaze, "What?" she sounded like any other frustrated teenager, apart from the fact that her voice sounded like a thousand tinkling bells.

"Nothing, I was just watching you"

"Mom", her tone was accusing, like I'd been watching her to make sure she was doing her homework, which I never did because Edward would always listen in to her thoughts. She continued with the same tone, "Why?"

"What? I'm not allowed to watch you now?" I smiled a perfect smile in her direction.

"Oh God! I wish you wouldn't!" she stopped running and turned to face me, I skipped to a halt behind her.

"Okay, okay", I raised my hands, palms out, "I'll stop"

"Good", she smiled her father's lopsided smile and sped off in front of me, "Bet I can beat you to Granny's!"

"Not if I can help it!" I chased after her through the thick, deep green woods, the smell of moss and dirt filling my lungs. I pushed forward, knowing that I would never beat her but enjoying the feeling of just running, letting myself feel free; we'd already hunted and so the burning in my throat was just a dull ache.

Renesmee leapt easily over the stream that separated the large, white house from the dense forest and I followed quickly. We were in the house less than a second later and Esme was hugging Renesmee tightly. Carlisle stood next to Esme, waiting for his turn. Alice stood at the other side of the doorway with her arms behind her back and a huge grin on her pixie face. Rose and Emmett stood just behind her, Emmett with his huge arm around Rose's shoulders. Jasper stood halfway down the staircase, his mouth pulled into a tight line. When Renesmee was first born I was seen as the danger to her, but after that first few months I'd become so well adjusted that nobody even bothered to watch over me anymore. That was when Jasper had stopped controlling my emotional environment and realised that Renesmee smelt more enticing than he'd first thought. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, never being able to embrace her the way everyone else did so easily.

I could hear my lullaby coming from the piano in the other room, the light notes dancing in the air, notes that I hadn't even heard when I was human. They twirled in the air and flitted between the dust motes like invisible pixies dancing in the sky. The last note hung daintily in the air as Edward stepped to my side and placed his hand in mine. He squeezed my hand lightly and I squeezed back; his skin was the exact same temperature as my own and his hand felt perfect in my iron grasp.

"Nessie", Edward used the nickname that Jacob had given our daughter; I'd almost grown to love it, "How did your hunt go?"

Renesmee smiled and held out her hand, she still preferred to use her gift rather than speak aloud. Edward placed his hand in hers and smiled once, Nessie dropped his hand as he spoke, "Nice", he sounded proud, exactly how I felt.

Alice danced to Renesmee's side and hooked a thin arm through hers, pulling her up the stairs, "Come on Ness- err, Nessie, I've got some new clothes to show you". Alice pulled her quickly up the stairs and Jasper's nostrils flared as he stayed glued to the banister when they flitted past. He looked in my direction and quickly dropped his eyes to the floor and sat down on the metal stairs, looking like a sculpture carved from marble. I could hear laughter coming from Alice's room and I could smell cotton and silk wafting from her direction; she was obviously playing dress-up with Nessie again.

"Hey!" Jacob's deep voice echoed through the hall as he stepped through the front door, a huge smile spreading across his olive skin. Rose groaned slightly and Emmett slapped Jake on the back with his gigantic hand, causing Jake to wince slightly.

"Hey Wolfie!" Emmett's booming voice echoed the same as Jake's as he greeted my best friend.

"Hi Jake", I flashed him a wide grin as his dark eyes moved quickly through the room, searching for Nessie no doubt.

"Is she here?" Jake strained his neck to peer past Emmett's huge frame, "I thought I could smell her but… well you all smell so bad its hard to concentrate, you know", he smiled at me and winked, still the same Jake.

"She's upstairs with Alice, they won't be long", Edward's melodic voice was full of patience; he still found it hard to allow Jake to see Nessie as often as he did but he made the effort to be polite around him, my perfect man.

"Great!" Jake strode into the lounge and flopped over the arm of the white sofa, lying on his back as he took up the whole piece of furniture, I followed him into the room and sat down on the floor next to him. I rested my head against the sofa out of habit as he stroked his wide hand through my shimmering hair.

"So, where are you going today?" I tried to keep my voice casual but I always liked to know where the big bad wolf was taking my little girl, especially after the last time they'd gone out alone.

"Don't worry, we're just going to go see Billy and then go down to La Push", his voice was as happy-go-lucky as usual, with no edge to it and so I decided to believe him, after all, he knew what would happen to him if he lied to me again.

Alice and Nessie darted down the staircase three minutes later, past an unmoving Jasper, and Nessie's eyes lit up as she saw Jake lying across the sofa. She danced to his side and he stood up, picking her up easily and kissing her lightly on the forehead. She kissed him back once on the lips and he placed her back on her feet.

"Hey! Hands off my niece, dog-breath!" Emmett made a gagging sound and then shut up immediately as Renesmee gave him one of her 'If you don't shut it I'll kill you' looks. Jake stuck out his tongue in Emmett's direction and grasped Nessie's hand in his. I noticed that he was continuously rubbing his thumb against her skin, as though he couldn't get enough of her.

"Would you like something to eat before you go Jacob?" Esme's mothering instincts were seeping through again and Jake shook his head once.

"No thanks. I thought maybe we could get something to eat up at the Res", I saw Renesmee wince slightly as Jacob shared his plans of eating _food_ for lunch, not one of her favourite past times. He was still determined to get her to eat human food, although the smell alone made her feel sick to her stomach.

"See you later Bells", Jake flashed his brilliant white teeth and practically dragged Nessie out of the house, leaving the eight vampires staring after them with worried eyes.

**Please review, it makes me happy and makes me want to write more!**

**Thanks :) xx**


	2. Visitors

**Visitors**

The smell of dog still hung in the air as Jacob drove along the driveway, away from the house. I listened as he turned right and sped, too fast, down the highway. Everyone started to disperse; Esme moved outside into the garden and started to plant various seeds which she'd bought the other day; I could hear the small pellets drop into the moist earth as she planted the new life. Carlisle glided up the stairs into his office, probably to work on some new paperwork or read an old book. Rose and Emmett strolled into the living room, Emmett turned on his Xbox and started hitting the buttons furiously, and I could hear the plastic creak and moan as he pushed too hard on the delicate joysticks. Rose sat down on the leather chair and watched Emmett with bored eyes; now and then she would inspect her perfect nails or play with her hair, all habits she'd picked up when pretending to be human. Alice danced up the staircase and sat beside Jasper, who turned his head towards her and smiled slightly. Alice began humming a tuneless song and Jasper laid his head on her tiny legs. Edward kissed my cheek gently and moved back to his position next to the piano; I listened as my lullaby drifted through the air towards me.

I stood in the hallway for a couple of hours, just listening to the delicate notes coming from the piano and listening as Alice's humming entangled with the notes, drifting perfectly into the gaps. I was trying to imagine what Renesmee and Jake were doing at that exact moment in time, perhaps Jake was trying to force her to eat something or maybe they were already at the beach. It startled me when Alice's humming stopped at the exact moment that my lullaby did. Jasper's voice broke through my imagination like a knife being slammed into a chopping board,

"Alice, what is it?" he moved his arms around Alice, encasing her but not touching her, as if he would somehow interrupt whatever she was seeing. Everyone was already gathered around the staircase; Carlisle moved down the stairs and placed a firm hand on Alice's shoulder.

"Alice. What did you see?" Carlisle's voice was firm; he needed to know what was happening.

"I-I don't really know" Alice's black brows pulled together as her eyes refocused, "It was kind of blurry, I couldn't see because of those stupid dogs!" My mind immediately rushed to Renesmee; had something happened to Jacob? Was Renesmee in danger?

Alice's eyes glazed over for another few seconds and then she was staring at me with a look of horror on her face.

"Alice, what is it? What's going on?!" I practically screamed the question at her. Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and spoke with no emotion,

"It's not perfectly clear but it looks as though there are some strangers on La Push beach-"

"La Push? But that's where Nessie is!" my hands balled into fists and I had to fight the urge to sprint out of the front door.

"They're not vampires but they don't look human either. We should go and see for ourselves, they could be a threat", I saw Edward glance at Alice and she nodded once, her brow puckering with the effort of trying to see past the werewolves.

"I'll come", Emmett stepped towards Edward and Rose followed,

"Me too", Rose pulled her hair into a lose bun and turned towards me, "I won't let anything happen to Nessie, Bella, I promise".

Edward nodded and then turned to the rest of the family, "Esme, Carlisle, Alice, I need you to stay here, in case Jacob and Nessie return. Jasper, you can come with us, we might need someone to calm the situation". I saw Jasper glance once at Alice and then he was by my side, his hands behind his back. Edward clasped my face in his strong hands and whispered to me, "We'll go and see who these _people_ are, everything's going to be okay, they're probably just some friends of the Quiliettes".

"And if they're not?" my voice came out as a gasp.

"If they're not then they've got me to answer to", Emmett flexed his muscles and smiled widely in my direction, he was clearly more optimistic than I was.

We took Emmett's jeep to La Push; it annoyed me because it seemed so slow compared to running, but Edward said it would seem strange if we ran there, as though we were _looking_ for a fight. We reached the beach in less than seven minutes; I could smell the brine and salt from the sea as we pulled onto the sand. I darted out of the jeep, faster than humanly possible, and walked at a quick human pace towards the smell of my daughter and best friend.

As the five of us rounded the corner the scene became clear: Nessie and Jacob were standing facing five extremely tall, tanned teenagers, two girls and three boys. The two girls looked identical; they both had cropped blonde hair just below their ears and their eyes were dark and menacing, their cheek bones seemed to jut out from their skin and their bodies were long and slender yet very muscular, as if they worked out a lot. They were wearing exactly the same clothes – small baby pink vest tops and long flowing skirts that went past their knees. I couldn't distinguish one scent from the other. The boys were all very different; the one that stood at the front of the group seemed to be the leader, he had long black hair down to his elbows and he wore a long leather jacket with no shirt, I could see that he was very muscular beneath the shadow of the jacket. He was as tall as Jacob but much leaner, without the broad shoulders. His eyes were a brilliant blue and he was grinning, showing off his perfect teeth. The other two boys stood behind him, one had deep red hair that was cut like the girls' hair. His body reminded me a lot of Emmett's – _huge _– and his plain grey t-shirt was pulled tight against his broad chest. He stood with his hands in the deep pockets of hid torn jeans, as though he didn't really care what was going on. The final boy had honey blonde hair as long as the leader's but he was smaller, with pale grey eyes and a physique a lot like Edward's. He was leaning against a thin, white tree with a smug grin etched onto his face and he dressed quite differently to the others; he wore a short, beige jacket with a white shirt underneath and pale cream trousers, he looked as though he should be in a business meeting rather than standing on a beach confronting vampires. My first thought was that they were werewolves. I noticed then that Jake was standing in front of Nessie, as though shielding her, and he was trembling from head to foot. I instinctively moved to his side, if something was making him _this_ upset then it must be a danger.

Edward was by my side in a heartbeat, as were Rose, Emmett and Jasper. Emmett stood with his thick arms folded across his chest beside Rose, and Jasper stood at the other side of us, next to Jake. Jake spoke through clenched teeth, "I think they're werewolves".

I growled and my eyes flitted from one tanned face to another, did Jake mean _real_ werewolves? Not just shape shifters like himself? Edward spoke then, quietly so that only the vampires present could hear, "They have come from the south, they are true werewolves, children of the moon. They heard about Renesmee and feel it is their duty to… dispose of her".

I snarled loudly and spoke loud enough for the southerners to hear, "Why?!"

The one at the front with the black mane spoke up, his voice was pure Texan, much more pronounced than Jasper's, "_She_", he gestured towards Renesmee, "She is a threat. We cannot allow her to continue", he raised a smug eyebrow and beside me Jacob shuddered furiously.

"_She_ is my daughter!" I screamed at the smug dog, "And _you_ will not touch her!"

The two blonde girls stepped forward slightly; they seemed to move as one and they spoke in the same way, "She is a child, a vampire child", their voices were rough, like they had been gargling sand.

"She is not what you think, we did not turn her", Edward spoke patiently and then growled fiercely as he listened to their answering thoughts, "You _knew_ that?! And you were still going to-"

"Yes, we knew", the leader spoke again, "She is half human, half bloodsucker but she is still dangerous. She looks _too_ human, she can mix in with them, live with them and act like them, there is nothing that would make her seem suspicious to them. This is why we must dispose of her."

"Why? What are you talking about?!" I couldn't contain my anger any longer and Edward had to step in front of me to prevent me from barrelling into the filthy dogs.

"She drinks the blood of animals, yes?" thebroad one with red hair spoke up, his voice was laced with poison, "But she _could_ drink humans, if she wanted to"

Renesmee stepped forward, to stand next to Jake; he trembled once and grabbed her hand in his. She spoke with anger in her bell-like voice, "I _do not_ drink humans! I'm not a monster!"

"But you _could_. That is why you must be terminated. You do not look like your family, therefore you do not seem a threat to the humans, and they do not fear you as they do your parents. You could easily attack them and no one would even suspect you", the red-head's voice ran through my veins like acid, I wanted to rip his throat out.

I spoke with venom spitting through my lips, "You will never hurt my daughter, no matter what. She is not a threat to anyone. I suggest you go back to where you came from and never come back!"

The leader stepped forward slightly and Jasper and Emmett did the same, low snarls ripping from their bared teeth. The black haired dog stopped and gestured to his pack to stop behind him, he spoke again, crossing his arms across his chest as he did so, "We don't want to disrupt your peaceful existence, we only need to destroy the young one, nothing more, please, let us continue and we will be out of your way".

Emmett moved into a crouch and growled loudly before springing towards the dog; Emmett moved like a bear pouncing on its prey, he flew through the air like a huge boulder about to smash into an unsuspecting passer by. He was almost upon the dog when he suddenly stopped. He just stopped. His huge body hovered in the air above the smiling werewolf and then he was hurtling back towards us; we dived out of the way as Emmett's giant stone body barrelled through the sand and hit a nearby tree, snapping it in half. Rose dashed to his side and Jasper and Edward moved forward into crouches. I couldn't believe what I had just seen; this tall, thin werewolf had just stopped Emmett in mid-air and thrown him away like a rag doll, something was definitely wrong.

**Reviews are really appreciated!!**

**Thanks :) xx**


	3. Gifts

**Gifts**

Emmett darted to my side, a little dazed, followed by a very disturbed Rosalie, he was furious; I could tell by the way his hands were balled into stone fists.

"What did you just do, dog?!" Rose's sharp voice cut through the ten foot gap between the strangers and my family like a razor through flesh.

The blonde girls giggled once and the leader spoke with pride, "Your kind are not the only ones that can have gifts", he smiled and gestured for his pack to step forward. They stood in a straight line, each one facing us with evil eyes.

Edward straightened and spoke quickly and quietly, "I thought that the werewolf gifts were simply myths"

Jake stopped shaking long enough to spit out a whisper, "Yeah, all the myths seem to be true", he squeezed Renesmee's hand tighter and turned to Edward, "I say we take them, he can't stop us all".

"No", Edward tilted his head slightly, listening to the thoughts of the pack, "He can and he will", he turned his head to the leader, "Will you allow my daughter to return home?"

The young man's black hair swayed slightly in the breeze and he smirked, "I'm afraid I can't do that".

I snarled and crouched forward, "You don't have a choice!" I leant towards Jacob and Renesmee and spoke briskly through clenched teeth, "Jake, take her home, I'll shield you"

Jake nodded and started to tug Nessie back across the sand towards the jeep, I extended my shield around them, encasing them in a thick film that would save them from the smug wolf. It was easy for me to control my shield now and it seemed like second nature to simply extend it around the people I loved, but it seemed to be getting more and more difficult as I tried to shield Renesmee and Jake. I clenched my teeth and tightened my fists as I struggled to keep them safe; it felt as though someone was physically trying to rip the shield away from them, like there were prying fingers trying to tug at it; these werewolves were obviously stronger than anything we'd encountered, even Alec and Jane couldn't physically _pull_ at my shield. I managed to keep it around them until they reached the jeep and then it sprung back to me, forcing me to my knees. Edward's arms were around my shoulders as I stood up on shaking legs and he spoke with terror in his voice, "Bella!"

"I'm fine", I shot a dagger stare at the wolves and prepared to rip them apart.

"I'm sorry", the black-haired wolf began to speak in his Texan drawl, "I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Adam and this-", he pointed behind his back with a thin thumb towards the red-head, "-is Leon." He gestured towards the blonde boy who was standing to his right, "This is Elliot and this-", he clasped one of the girl's hands in his own, "- this is Claire-"

"-Enough!" Jasper's interruption silenced the one named Adam and he looked at Jasper's face, stepping back slightly as he saw the battle scars left from previous battles.

Edward's voice tore through the atmosphere as he warned the foreign pack, "You will leave now and you won't come back. If I see you again I will kill you, all of you. Do you understand?"

Adam shrugged and stepped forward with his hand out, he wasn't actually expecting Edward to shake it was he? Edward also stepped forward and placed his marble hand in Adam's, he shook it once and I heard the snapping of bones as Edward squeezed it. Adam didn't even flinch. He stepped back to regain his place in his pack and then turned away from us, he wrapped a long arm around one of the blonde girls, I suspected it was Claire, and they walked briskly away, into the thick, dense forest.

"Are they going to come back?" Rose absentmindedly linked her arm through Emmett's as we walked at a human pace towards the parking lot where Jake's VW would be.

"I don't think so", Edward frowned as he spoke, "The Alpha, Adam, he wasn't thinking straight, their minds didn't seem to work the way everyone else's does. We should check with Alice when we get back". I was suddenly in a hurry to get back to the house, I needed to make sure Nessie and Jake were okay; I jogged towards the car and all but tore the door from the frame, breaking the lock as I climbed into the passenger seat. Edward climbed into the driver's side and gripped my hand in his, "Everything's going to be fine, Bella, you'll see". I smiled half-heartedly and stared out of the window as Emmett, Rose and Jasper drifted into the back seat. Edward spun out of the parking lot and drove furiously through the traffic, reaching home in less than six minutes; he was obviously as keen to see Renesmee as I was.

We pulled into the driveway and I was out of the car and into the house before the engine had stopped; I glanced anxiously through the front room, looking for the one face I needed to see. Carlisle was beside me in a second, his eyes immediately checking me for any injuries, "She's upstairs with Alice", he smiled gently and gestured towards Alice's room. I saw him turn towards Edward as he walked through the door and I could hear Edward explaining about the werewolves, calling them 'Children of the Moon', as I dashed up the staircase.

I almost knocked the door off of its hinges as I pushed it open; I was greeted by Jake's beaming smile, "Whoa there Bells, what did the door ever do to you?" I ignored his jibe and found Nessie's face; she was smiling just as much as Jake, although I could tell there was something bothering her deep down. I knelt down beside her and started to run my fingers through her bronze hair, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Mom, Jake got us home safe and sound", she touched the back of my hand lightly and I saw her replay her journey home with Jacob, something in the memory remained with me as she took her hand away. Alice had been in it; she was standing at the window, staring out of it like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, "Where's Alice?"

Renesmee sighed, "She's in your room"

I moved away from Nessie, allowing Jake to regain his position beside her, and I glided towards our room, pushing the door open more gently this time. Alice was still standing in the same position as she had been in the memory, staring out of the huge glass window.

"Alice?" she spun abruptly and smiled slightly when she saw my face, "Are you okay?"

"Mhmm", her eyes seemed to be glazing over and then refocusing again and again, "I'm so sorry Bella, I didn't see them", her lips pouted slightly and her dark brows knitted together. I drifted to her side and hugged her tiny frame, "Shh, shh, its okay, everything's fine"

"But I should have seen them earlier"

"It's not your fault you can't see them; it's amazing that you even saw them at all"

Jasper glided into the room then and moved to Alice's side, he embraced her tightly and she kissed the scar above his lips once, I began to turn to go out of the room when Alice gasped quietly. "What is it?" I needed to know if Renesmee was in danger again.

Alice's voice was a faint gasp, "They're coming back".

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

**Thanks for reading! :) xx**


	4. Vendetta

**Vendetta**

Jasper's snarl ripped through his teeth and echoed through the small room. He turned Alice to face him and held her bony shoulders in his firm grasp, "Where are they?"

Alice's eyes seemed like giant chasms in her tiny face, she answered in a defeated whisper, "I don't know. I can only see them when they talk to Bella".

So they were going to talk to me? "Where do I see them?"

"I think it's near the cottage, I could see rocks and trees", Alice's voice increased an octave, "I'm not sure! It's too fuzzy!" she nuzzled her face into Jasper's chest and he rubbed her spiky black hair lightly. Edward appeared at the door a fraction of a second later, followed by a trembling Jake and a composed Carlisle.

Carlisle spoke with total concentration, "Edward told me about the wolves, about the Alpha's 'gift'. He says the others could have their own gifts-"

"I couldn't _read_ their minds exactly, but I could hear random thoughts; the girls seem to think in unison and the others weren't thinking about anything but destroying Nessie", Edward glanced once towards the room where Nessie was, a look of anger etched onto his face.

Carlisle continued, " If they plan to come here, we should meet them before they get too close; we don't want them getting near Renesmee again".

I frowned, deep in thought, and then darted out of the first story window, landing lightly on the soft grass beneath. Edward followed. Jake looked down from the window, "What are you going to do?" he was trembling more than before and the window frame was shuddering; I hoped he wouldn't smash it.

I answered as quickly as I could, "I'm going to meet them"

"Then I'm coming too!" Jake moved away from the window and I could hear his loud footsteps bounding down the stairs, he was beside me in three seconds.

"You can't come Jake, you have to take care of Nessie" I touched his cheek with my pale hand and pushed him slightly, urging him to go inside. He moved away and stood next to Renesmee who was standing in the doorway. I spoke quickly with no pauses, gathering my thoughts, "Carlisle should come with us", Edward nodded slightly at my side, "and Jasper too, he can calm them down if they get too annoyed. Esme should stay here, and Emmett. Rose too", I knew they could all hear me as I planned out my confrontation with the dogs that wanted to murder my daughter. I dashed to Renesmee's side and touched her cheek as I had with Jake; she shuddered slightly and replayed the scene at the beach earlier, I could tell that she was worried about me.

"Don't worry love, we'll be back soon", I kissed her forehead once and ran towards the stream. I was about to jump when a tiny, bell-chime voice sounded from behind me,

"What about me?" I turned to see Alice standing in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest, her eyes were dark and if she could, she would have looked ill, "Do you want me to stay?"

I deliberated for a moment, I didn't want to put her in harms way but maybe if she was _near_ the wolves she would be able to see them better, "No, you should come". Alice darted to Jasper's side and he clasped her porcelain hand in his. Edward moved in front of our small group and spoke with a rushed voice, "These are not the wolves that we know, they are true werewolves, children of the moon. They think erratically and I can only determine a few of the things that they play through their minds. They are irrational and will act on instinct alone. Adam seems to have some sort of telekinesis; Carlisle said that it was rare, but he has heard of werewolves possessing gifts like ourselves. He also says that the others may have abilities of their own; we should be quick and careful and, if possible, pleasant. We don't want a fight on our hands"

Jasper spoke up, "And if it comes to a fight?"

Edward's answering tone was severe, "Then it is to the death. They cannot be allowed to reach Renesmee". I ground my teeth together at the thought of those strange teenagers ripping Nessie apart.

We ran through the forest towards our usually tranquil home. I wasn't even concentrating on the trees as they flew past with unimaginable speed, I was only concentrating on my husband rushing ahead of the group, towards the smell of dog.

We arrived at the cottage a minute after we had set off, although it still felt like too long; I needed to be doing something, to be spitting venom at the wolves, I hoped that my venom was like poison to them as it was to Jake. Edward stopped to the right side of our small home and Jasper and Alice followed; I trailed behind slightly, sniffing the air for any scent of the filthy wolves. They appeared then, this time only four of them, one of the girls was missing, I only hoped she wasn't planning on attacking us from behind. They stood in the shadow of the tall, thick trees, all with masks of what seemed to be amusement on their faces. I couldn't help the snarl that ripped through my tight lips. Jasper pushed the confused-looking Alice behind him slightly and crouched into a ready position, their emotions were obviously unstable.

Adam, the leader, stepped forward, his hands out in front of him as if showing us he was unarmed, "Why do you protect her?" he sounded genuinely confused, as though the safety of my daughter would not be high on my list of priorities, "You know that we will find a way to destroy her"

Alice hissed and Jasper edged forward, Edward moved a restraining hand in front of him, "Jasper please. We mean them no harm"

"So you have rethought your original view? You no longer protect the child?" Adam's voice echoed through my skull.

Edward's reply was a low growl, "No, we have not. I only mean that if you move on now, we will not have to harm you, if you wish to stay, however-"

"We wish to stay", Adam smiled, showing his gleaming teeth.

My vision went red; I was unable to think clearly anymore, I needed to attack him, to _kill. _I watched as his heart raced, the blood beneath his skin rippled slightly and his veins undulated with the extra pressure; the burning in my throat became unbearable, I _needed_ blood, _his_ blood, I would do anything to destroy him, to protect Renesmee, even murder.The need to dive forward and tear the young man apart was unbearable, I clenched my fists and prepared to launch at him. It was then that I noticed the blonde male, Elliot, staring at me with a wry smile on his smooth face. He looked amused, as if he was in on a private joke that nobody else was allowed to share. I instinctively threw my shield up, covering the four of my family that were present; at that exact moment my need to kill subsided, it was as though the fire in my throat had been extinguished somehow. I exhaled slowly and kept my shield up around us.

Elliot grinned widely, "I am sorry Miss. I just was just curious to see what yours was"

"My what?" was he talking about my ability?

"Your deepest desire", he rolled his eyes, clearly I wasn't understanding what he was trying to explain, "yours seems to be your need to kill, to protect your family", he was chuckling to himself when the leader spoke again,

"We are here to respond to our duty, and nothing is going to prevent that", Adam bowed his head in a gentlemanly manner, "we will do what is necessary to kill the girl"

"I won't allow it!" Edward crouched forward, his teeth bared, as did I. We would protect Nessie, no matter what.

Jasper spoke up, his skin shimmering oddly in the setting sunlight, "You cannot win, our family is large, we will _all_ protect Renesmee", he snarled loudly when Adam simply smirked. That was it. Jasper sped forward like a runaway train towards Adam, his teeth bared and his fists clenched, he was almost on top of Adam when he suddenly slowed to a halt; he stood between the two groups looking back and forth and then he disappeared. He ran off into the trees, in the opposite direction to the house, without a word he was gone. Alice gasped once and then turned and ran back towards where the rest of our family were. I had no idea what was going on but somehow, I knew that Elliot was involed.


	5. Full Moon

**Full Moon**

This was getting old; Edward had been trying to talk Adam out of his little vendetta for over an hour and Adam had not swayed an inch.

"I'm afraid your time is wasted Vampire", Adam had not stopped smirking the entire time we had been stood there, "once we get the scent of our target there is no stopping us; we must destroy it or die trying". The blonde girl, Claire, stood silently beside Adam, her eyes locked with mine for a short second and she winked once, filling my mind with anger. Adam looked up into the sky; I hadn't noticed that the sun had set; the moon was now rising in the sky, a bright, perfect full moon.

The red-haired boy, Leon, followed my gaze towards the sky and his eyes widened, a huge grin spreading across his dirty face. He touched Adam's arm and Adam nodded slightly before turning his gaze to Edward and I, "It is time we left you, unless you want to leave your family with two less fighters?" He looked between Edward and I, reading our anxious expressions, "I thought not". He began to turn, to walk back into the shadow of the forest and I growled and leaned forward, "No!" Adam turned to face me, a look of shock on his face, "You want to stay here while we _turn_?" Leon grinned and rubbed his palms together, he obviously wanted some sort of confrontation.

Edward was by my side in a heartbeat, he placed a hand on my shoulder and leant in to whisper in my ear, "We should let them go. Their thoughts are more animal than man, we can't reason with them"

I scoffed, "Let them go? They'll just come back again"

"Yes", Edward's velvet tones drifted into my head, "But they are not scared"

"They _should_ be"

"I know. But they're not, which makes me think that the two of us are no match for them; we should regroup with the family and fight, if we must, when there are more of us"

I looked into Edward's honeyed eyes and sighed; it felt wrong letting them just walk away like that, but, there _were_ more of them and I really _did_ want to destroy them and so I would wait for a more opportune moment. Adam smirked once more and then the four of them dashed into the forest. I saw the girl, Claire, tear something from her body, as if she was ripping her clothes off and I smelt the scent of raw meat as the remainder of her flesh drifted to the ground.

Edward and I walked home quickly; we didn't think that the wolves would attack tonight but we would feel better once we could actually see Renesmee. The house sounded too quiet when I leapt over the river, following Edward. We stepped through the door and saw the entire family, including Jake, arranged around the dining table. Nessie was sitting on Jake's knee, who was playing with her hair absentmindedly. She was constantly touching his hand; her forehead was puckered, probably worrying about those retched wolves. Rose sat next to them, she was tracing the grain on the table, completely preoccupied by the swirls and shapes in the wood. Emmett sat next to her, he looked completely freaked out; his hands were balled into huge fists and his eyebrows were knitted together in the centre of his face, I guessed that he preferred to be in the thick of things rather than sitting around waiting. Carlisle was pacing behind them; I could see he was walking continuously faster as he paced back and forth across the room. Esme was sitting opposite Emmett, her arm around a statuesque Alice.

Edward sat down in the chair next to her, "Alice? Let me see", she shook her head furiously, pinning her lip into a thin line. I sat down in the chair next to Edward, and Nessie reached out her hand, I touched it as she replayed the few hours I'd missed. I saw Nessie and Jake messing around in Alice's room and I saw Alice return home looking terrified. The scene then seemed to fast-forward to the family gathering around Alice as she explained that Jasper had ran away. Nessie showed me that Alice had had a vision then but she hadn't told the rest of the family what it was of; this must be what Edward was trying to make her show him now. Renesmee loosened her grip on my hand but continued to hold it across the wooden table.

Carlisle stopped pacing and looked at Edward, "Did you stop them?"

Edward's eyes dropped to the table, "No"

"Why not?"

"They didn't seem threatened at all, well, perhaps a little when Jasper was there but when he left-"

"I see. And there was no way to stop them?"

"No. They were about to transform, I couldn't risk it"

"Of course not. You did the right thing coming home"

Alice looked at Edward then. She sighed and closed her eyes, I guessed she was replaying whatever vision she hadn't told the family about. Edward concentrated for a moment and then spoke, a sound of shock in his tone, "Alice. Why?"

Her lip trembled, "I don't know, that's all I saw". Esme rubbed Alice's back therapeutically whilst the small pixie shrunk into her adoptive mother's arms.

"But he was doing fine, at least I thought-"

Alice cut Edward off mid-sentence, "He _was_! And he was even getting used to Nessie"

My first guess was that they were talking about Jasper, but what could he have done; surely he wouldn't go off to hunt in the middle of our confrontation with the werewolves? Edward stood up and moved next to Carlisle in one fluid movement, he spoke quietly although everyone in the room could still hear, "Jasper has… fed. On human blood. Alice saw it when Jasper had already ran, she couldn't have stopped him"

Esme gasped, "But why? I knew his desires were strong but to actually _kill _someone?" She slouched in her chair slightly. Something in what Esme had said stuck with me, _his desires_. Wasn't that what Elliot had said in the woods? Yes. He said he wanted to know what mine were.

"Carlisle", I asked him because, out of anyone, my adoptive father -in-law would know about this, "The gifts, that the werewolves have, can they be _anything_?"

He frowned, speculating for a moment where my thoughts were going, "Yes, I suppose. Why do you ask?"

"The blonde male, Elliot, said that he'd wondered what my deepest desires were; before I raised my shield I had felt the urge, no the _need_ to kill them, all of them, and he'd said that my desire was to protect my family"

"And you think that maybe Jasper-"

"No!" Alice's chime-like voice cut through our conversation, "That is _not_ his deepest desire! He's not a monster!"

I tried to word my response carefully, so as not to upset Alice any further, "I'm not saying that, I'm just saying-"

"You're wrong!" Alice leapt from her chair and darted towards the front door. At that exact moment the door opened and Jasper walked in, his eyes a deep ruby red.

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	6. Regret

**Regret**

The entire family stared at Jasper as he stood, perfectly still, in the doorway. His white shirt was stained with dried, red blood, the burning in my throat intensified as I inhaled the bitter sweet smell. His hands were balled into fists, the dry blood covering his knuckles cracked as he tightened his hands further. His usually pristine blonde hair was matted, some clinging to his face, the rest knotted into clumps. His blood-red eyes darted around the room sporadically; he could feel the anxiety in us all. His eyes rested on the floor at his feet and he let out a long, disjointed sigh. He fell against the doorframe and stayed there, staring blankly at the shiny wooden floor.

Esme stepped forward, her hands out in front of her, as though she was approaching a feral cat; she stepped beside him and touched his arm lightly. He let out a low growl and then his eyes flashed to Esme's. Jasper's crimson eyes looked helpless, Esme leaned in to him and stroked his blood-stained cheek once before whispering, "It's okay Jasper, you're home now". He grimaced slightly and then turned his head, slowly, towards Alice, who was standing beside Edward. Alice smiled slightly and held out her hand to trace the scar beneath his lips; Jasper cringed back and hissed through clenched teeth, "Don't touch me. I'm a monster"

Alice frowned and pursed her lips, "No, your not"

Jasper growled, "I _killed_ someone!"

Alice pulled her hand back, "It's not your fault"

"Well no one forced me to murder her!" Jasper's raised voice startled me a little; I wasn't used to seeing him angry or even slightly annoyed, he was always the well composed vampire.

"Jazz-" Alice tried to console him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault. She reached her hand out again and he slapped it away,

"No Alice! Don't even look at me!" With that he stormed up the staircase like a hurricane and slammed the door to his and Alice's room. Alice remained still, standing in the foyer with blank eyes, she blinked a few times and then dashed upstairs.

I heard the door to Alice's room creak open as she stepped in and I heard Jasper's hiss as she sat on the bed beside him. I didn't _want_ to listen in to their private conversation but my ears picked up everything, even the faint breathing as Alice tried to explain what had caused Jasper to kill.

"It's not your fault, the werewolves-"

"This has nothing to do with the werewolves; I abandoned you to, to…" his voice trailed off and I could hear the bed creak slightly as he moved away from Alice.

"They forced you to do it"

"No one forced me Alice"

"It's true, the werewolves, they have gifts like us"

"I know, telekinesis. And he didn't physically drag me there if that's what you're going to say!"

"No, he didn't", Alice paused for a moment and I heard the rustling of fabric as she edged closer to Jasper, "the blonde one, Elliot, we think he has the ability to force someone to give in to their desires, he takes away their free will". There was another pause as Jasper thought about what Alice had just said.

"I see", Jasper still sounded deflated, as though he somehow should have been strong enough to deter such a gift.

"So it's not your fault silly" Alice sounded chirpier, knowing she was getting through to Jasper, "He _made_ you do it"

"Yes", Jasper's voice was defeated; somehow he knew that Alice would win the argument, "Thank you Alice". I heard more rustling of fabric and decided to try and distract myself from the private conversation.

I moved into the dining room and Edward and the rest of the family followed, Carlisle stood at the end of the table and leaned against it, "We have a problem here. If Elliot is this strong then he can defeat us all. If he can take away our free will, what else do we have?" He rubbed his forehead with his palm and flopped into the chair at the foot of the table. I frowned deeply; my shield _had_ prevented his gift from controlling me back in the woods but somehow I knew that, if he had tried a little harder, he would have broken through it. What could we do to defeat someone who could take away our free will? If he had forced Jasper to _kill_ what else was he capable of? So many questions littered my mind, I couldn't think about anything else. I needed to destroy him.

Jacob leaned across the table, his huge, olive skinned arms covering the width of it, "Maybe we can help, the pack I mean", Renesmee looked into Jake's eyes as he stated his idea.

Emmett scoffed, "I don't think so, that Adam guy just flicked me away like a bug"

"But maybe it's just you bloodsu- vampires", he looked at Carlisle for confirmation but it was Edward who replied,

"It's not. When they were thinking clearly I could hear that they were completely unperturbed by your presence. The leader, Adam, he didn't even care that there were more of you than them, he even seemed smug about the fact that he was sure they could defeat you all". Jake winced and leaned back in his chair, Nessie snuggled closer to him, leaning her head against his broad chest.

Alice was suddenly in the doorway to the dining room; her face was serene apart from the tiniest hint of gloom in her golden eyes. Jasper stood behind her, his head bowed slightly so as not to show the colour of his eyes; his hair was clean as was his face and his shirt had been changed, he now wore a short sleeved shirt, showing the scars that mottled his forearms. I pitied him but quickly stopped as I knew he would feel what I felt. He cleared his throat and stepped from behind his wife, keeping his eyes on the polished wooden floor,

"I am truly sorry for what I did. There is no excuse-"

Carlisle interrupted him, "Yes, there is. You were forced into it Jasper, this wolf, Elliot, he has the power to force people to-"

"-give in to their desires, yes, but I should have been stronger, I should have _felt_ that he was going to corrupt me"

"There was no way you could have known. Now we must move on and figure out a way to get them to surrender, or, if we must, destroy them", Carlisle stood up gracefully and began pacing again.

"Move on?!" Jasper's voice was pure Texan, as it often was when he became angry, "I _murdered_ someone! I took away their life, _they_ can't simply '_move on_'"

Edward stood up and placed a hand on Jasper's shoulder, trying to calm him down, "Come on Jazz, you can't blame yourself"

Jasper's voice was suddenly a whisper, "You didn't _feel_ her fear Edward. She was terrified, and I tore her throat out- "he stopped abruptly and his wide, red eyes shot to Esme, "she was so small, only a child". It was Rosalie who gasped when he said this although we all felt the sudden shock of it, how cruel must Elliot be to force the death of a child, did he have no mercy?

Carlisle stopped pacing and stood in front of Jasper, who looked at him with crimson eyes, "This was terrible, I agree, but we must be together if we are to defeat them. If they are willing to murder a child then they truly are animals", he sat down again and placed his hand in Esme's. Edward did the same to me and Alice stood in front of Jasper and swung both of his arms.

I wished I could make it okay, wished I could stand up and say that everything would be fine, but I couldn't. We were dealing with a whole new enemy and we were completely out of ideas to defeat them.

**Hope you like it so far, more desires to be forced in later chapters :)**

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	7. No Mercy

**No Mercy**

We'd been sitting around the dining table all night, Nessie had fallen asleep leaning against Jake and he had nodded off about an hour later. We still hadn't decided what to do about the wolves and it was becoming clear that none of us had any idea what they were capable of.

Nessie moved uneasily in her sleep and Jake's low snores spluttered slightly, causing me to snap out of my stone – like stature. Edward suddenly bolted from his seat and ran out of the front door; I followed mechanically as did the rest of the vampires. We stood on the dewy grass in front of the large white house and my hand slapped to my mouth as we stared in horror at the unbelievable sight ahead of us.

Jasper inhaled noisily through his nose and I heard him hiss slightly as Alice stood in front if him, Esme gave a small whimper and Emmett grasped Rosalie's hand tightly in his own. On the damp, green grass lay seven bodies, each one covered in blood from head to toe. They lay in disjointed positions; some with only their torso's intact, others with mangled arms and legs. One lay in a pile with the remains of a head hanging by a few lose strands like a limp balloon hanging from a string. Their blood seemed to seep out onto the grass like tendrils, lapping at nature like cancer. The burning in my throat was nothing compared to the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach; how could anyone do such and thing? And, perhaps even more disturbing, why?

Edward wrapped his arm around me and then shouted, "No!" Renesmee was at the door, her eyes wide with terror and her hands clasping at her shirt like someone possessed. Jake was by her side in a second and he seemed to turn a shade of green as he witnessed the carnage for himself. Esme rushed to their side and ushered them into the house, closing the door behind her, I hoped that she was able to comfort Nessie because I knew that, now I had seen it with my own eyes, I was not going to forget the scene in front of me. Carlisle knelt down beside one of the bodies, it's scent drifted towards me as he turned the torso over, revealing the mauled features of its face. It was a young woman, no older than twenty; her summer dress was torn from thigh to breast and the skin underneath looked like it had suffered the same fate. Her chestnut hair splayed out behind her head in a mattered mane and her face held a look of sinister pleasure, her mouth grimacing with the way it had been slashed. Carlisle brushed some loose strands of hair from her face, revealing the extent of the damage; where her mouth was pulled into a lopsided grimace her cheek was sunken, as though it had been gauged from her face. Her eyes stared blankly up towards the rising sun as it moved away from the shadow of the forest behind us.

The sun's rays danced off my skin and the white orb continued to rise as we stood, motionless, staring at the mangled corpses on the front lawn. When the sun reached the smiling girl I gasped and almost fell to my knees, my mind raced with the thoughts ricocheting within. The sun's light sparkled on her skin like a thousand tiny crystals; it shed patterns onto our clothes and reflected in the drops of dew that lay in the blades of grass like tiny glass beads. Carlisle stood up and moved quickly away from the girl, watching and waiting as the sun's rays hit the other bodies in the same way.

"Carlisle", Emmett's voice came out as a broken whisper, "What- what does this mean?" We all waited anxiously for Carlisle's response, knowing that only he would have the peace of mind to propel us into action. He ran a bloody hand through his blonde hair and spoke quietly, "Their venom, the werewolves, it is poisonous to our kind. Once they bite we become paralyzed, there's no escaping it", he looked out across the lawn at the seven dead vampires as the sun's rays shimmered off them majestically.

"This is a warning", Edward spoke quietly beside me, tightening his grip around my waist, "They want us to know they won't give up". He looked down into my eyes, if it were possible I would have said he looked tired, physically drained.

I whispered, knowing the others would hear but in the hope that Jacob and Renesmee wouldn't, "What do we do?"

"We have to destroy them", Edward's eyes were blank, flat, desolate.

"I'm up for that", Emmett's voice was almost back to its usual power, there was only the slight hint of fear to it.

I looked towards Emmett as I spoke, "But how? They're so powerful, what with their abilities and-"

Jasper cut me off mid sentence, "We'll find a way, we're gifted too".

I stepped inside the house as Edward, Emmett and Carlisle began to destroy what remained of the seven vampires on the lawn. I'd asked if we could simply put them back together, I'd heard that vampires could do that, even when ripped apart, but Carlisle said that the wolf venom prevented this, that the vampires were dead. I could smell the putrid-sweet fumes emitting from the burning bodies as I walked into the dining room. Renesmee was sitting in Jake's lap at the dining table and I could hear Esme moving around upstairs, obviously trying to occupy her mind with something monotonous to scratch out the memory of the bodies on her front lawn. I sat in the chair opposite Nessie and Jake and clasped Nessie's hand in mine across the polished wood; she played the scene in the garden over and over, lingering on each and every face of the dead vampires whom we never knew.

"Shh, we're going to stop them", I rubbed the top of her hand as I spoke.

"How?" Jake's voice seemed cracked, weak, as though he was holding back tears, "If their venom is poisonous and they can kill you without even touching you how are we supposed to stop them?"

"We'll find a way. Maybe they have a weakness, something we can use to our advantage, I don't know. But we _will_ stop them". Jake simply nodded slightly and rested his chin against the top of Nessie's bronze hair, closing his eyes as he did so. At that exact moment an ear-splitting shriek erupted from outside; it sounded like someone was being torn apart from the inside. I darted out of the front door to see Edward, Alice, Emmett and Rose standing in what seemed to be an outward-facing circle in the centre of the garden; surrounding them were perhaps thirty young girls, all wearing a light pink top and a long, silk skirt. I stepped onto the grass and saw that each girl looked exactly the same as the next; it was Claire. She wasn't a twin, she was somehow _all_ of these girls. But how?

"Edward?" I glanced towards him and saw that his eyes were wide with terror, as were all of the faces of my family. "Edward?" I repeated, "What's going on?!"

My gaze moved to Rosalie, who seemed to be struggling for breath, not that she needed it, and Emmett who looked bewildered, his eyes sweeping the circle of Claires. Carlisle was crouching in front of the small circle that was my family as though he was inspecting the ground; I couldn't see what he was looking at as my view was blocked by Emmett and Edward. Edward looked as though he was restraining Alice, it seemed as though she wanted to attack the Claires but Edward wouldn't let her.

"Let me go!" Alice's voice was more of a scream; it broke on the last word as she struggled fiercely against Edward's iron grasp.

"No Alice, let Carlisle deal with it", Edward's voice was flat, completely free of emotion and he glanced towards me once before redirecting his attention to Alice. Alice continued reaching in the direction of Carlisle, screaming and thrashing against Edward.

I moved towards both of them, Edward looked as though he could use my help restraining Alice. I didn't understand why she would be so angry, so upset. Was it because Carlisle was so close to Claire? Or because there were so many of her? Either way I couldn't understand why Alice would erupt like that.

Alice struggled fiercely against Edward and I as we tried to calm her down; she was kicking and squealing like a feral cat and her eyes seemed to glow with anger, "Let me _see_ him!"

I was confused, "Who?"

"Let me see Jasper! I need to _see _him!"

That's when my eyes finally drifted to whatever Carlisle was kneeling over. I peered around his frame to see what looked like a dead body lying on the grass. My eyes widened as I saw Jasper laying there, his face a mask of pure terror. Behind him the large circle of Claires began to grin, their mouths widening and their eyes shining and finally they began to laugh.

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	8. Venom

**Venom**

I couldn't move. I simply stood there, staring as the many Claires cackled viciously around us. Now and then Alice would shriek or whimper and finally Edward let her go. She scrambled to Jasper's side and clasped his hand in hers.

Jasper was lying in the grass, his shirt was torn down one side and I could see the slashes down across his ribs. His honey hair was splayed out on the grass and his crimson eyes were staring blankly at the sky. His legs seemed to be at an odd angle to his body, they were jutting out to the side as though they didn't belong to him and his arms were sitting limply at his sides, unmoving. In fact his entire body was unmoving, as though he was somehow paralyzed… That's when I saw it. As Alice grasped his hand I saw the deep wound in his forearm; the flesh was torn and I could almost see the bone. Around the wound there seemed to be some sort of deep blue ooze seeping from his skin, with tendrils of the same blue travelling up his arm underneath the flesh like some sort of ivy infecting his body.

"Edward", it was all I could manage to say, my voice seemed to have forgotten everything else. Edward simply bowed his head, a look of complete dread marring his features. He spoke quickly and quietly, "She sneaked up on him, she was so silent"

"Did she-" I was cut off by the entire circle of Claires. They sniggered as they spoke as one, like an entire swarm of bees buzzing the same, heavy tune, "We infected him", the girls' gravelly tone reverberated in my head, "Now he's stuck, like a bee in honey, a fly in the ointment", the high pitched cackling started again, an infinite chime of nails on a blackboard.

"Shut up!" Alice was on her feet, she moved closer to one of the Claires, "Shut up you bitches! Look what you've done!" she pointed to Jasper and her voice rose an octave, the girls continued to laugh. Alice picked one of them up by the neck and flicked her wrist, snapping her neck in an instant, but the laughing continued. In fact it intensified, growing in volume. Alice covered her ears and knelt to the ground, "Shut up!"

"Alice", Carlisle's calm voice seemed to be dragged away from him by the continuous snickering and giggling and he had to shout in order to gain Alice's attention, "Alice! I- I think he moved!" The laughing stopped abruptly with a short gasp.

The silence seemed louder that the cackling at first and I had to shake my head to regain concentration. Edward and I moved immediately to Carlisle's side as did an unusually silent Rose and Emmett. Alice darted to Jasper's side and grabbed his hand with both of her fragile hands. Jasper continued to stare towards the sky and lie completely still and we all began to believe that Carlisle had imagined it. But then he moved. His free hand curled into a tight fist, causing his knuckles to go almost transparent. Then his ruby red eyes moved to Alice's face and she smiled at him, as did the rest of us. However, the look in Jasper's eyes was not at all peaceful; his eyes suddenly widened and scrunched tightly shut. His back arched up off the grass and his grip tightened on Alice's hand. His body convulsed and shook and the circling Claires snickered and cheered as he struggled wildly on the lawn.

"Carlisle!" Alice's voice was a shriek, something that sounded more like a wounded animal than a person. Carlisle lightly pushed Alice aside and looked into Jasper's terrified eyes, which were continuously rolling back into his head.

"I don't think she injected enough venom to completely paralyze him", Carlisle was in full doctor mode and he spoke as though he were talking to any other worried family, "Emmett, hold him down". Emmett seemed to physically shake himself out of his statuesque pose and knelt down beside Jasper. He pushed both of his palms onto Jasper's ribcage and pressed down firmly, straightening Jasper's back flat onto the grass.

Edward spoke up, "What's happening to him?"

Carlisle looked into Edward's eyes with something that looked a lot like fear, "He's fighting the venom"

"Can he do that?"

"She didn't get enough venom into his system so, theoretically, he should be able to fight it"

"Theoretically?"

"Well, the venom is powerful. He _could_ fight it and succeed or…" Carlisle's voice trailed off and Alice whimpered slightly.

Jasper continued to thrash around on the grass and Emmett pushed down on his ribs with such force that I thought he might crush them. Jasper's hands were clawing at the pristine lawn, grasping clumps of dirt into his palms and then letting them go quickly before grabbing more. I looked around the circle of the girl surrounding us, staring into the same face over and over again. She was silent now but the evil grin remained on her face, mocking us with her pleasure; I couldn't understand why she would enjoy watching someone fight for their life. I glared into each and every smug face, into each pair of pale grey eyes, and my eyes rested on the spot where the girl had been standing that Alice had killed. There, in the same space, was another replica Claire. She had replaced the dead Claire and was standing with the same pale eyes as all of the others. That's when I remembered. The first time I had seen Claire she had had deep, dark, menacing eyes. Eyes that seemed to penetrate my very soul, eyes that were filled with hatred and malice. But now, surrounding my family, all of these girls had pale eyes, eyes that held no emotion or anger. I moved to stand next to Edward and grasped his hand, I spoke quietly, making sure my face held no emotion so as not to warn the Claires,

"We need to find the _real_ Claire"

"What?"

"When Alice killed that girl another one replaced her. When we were at the beach Claire had dark eyes but all of these girls have pale eyes. We have to find the one with the dark eyes and kill her. That way I think they'll all die", I glanced sideways into Edward's golden eyes and he glanced back, a wry smile tugging at his lips.

"I think you're right", he said, "Start circling them, look into their eyes and see if you can spot the _real_ one".

Rosalie and Alice had obviously heard our quiet conversation and they began to search the eyes of each girl in turn, moving slowly around the circle. The Claires didn't move, they simply stood, grinning, causing my blood to boil and my anger to increase tenfold. I could hear Alice on the opposite side of the inner circle to me; she was hissing and growling at each girl, showing them that now they had touched Jasper, she was going to kill them, one by one if that's what it would take. I knew I would do the same if it were Edward lying there. I was inspecting the eyes of the nearest Claire when they suddenly began to speak,

"What are you looking for? You can't kill us all; we'll just replace our lost sister"

Alice hissed through her teeth and spoke, on her tiptoes, looking into the closest 'sister's' eyes, "We're going to kill you, Claire, don't you worry about that". Alice moved around the circle again and then stopped in front of another of the girls, she glanced once at Jasper and then back to the girl, "Its you!" Alice was a good foot shorter than the girl but she pushed her with the flat of her hand and the girl stumbled backwards, out of the circle.

The Claire spoke with a slight tremor in her voice, this time she was the only one to speak, "No! Not me! You're wrong!" I saw Alice whisper something even I couldn't hear and then, without thinking, she plunged her fist through the girl's chest. It sounded like someone snapping thousands of branches from a tree; Alice's hand emerged from the girl's back and she ripped it back through her body, leaving a small hole all the way through the girl's chest. Her ribs had snapped and splintered and were penetrating her flesh, shining a slick white in the afternoon sun. Claire staggered around for a few seconds, looked at Alice with complete confusion and dropped to the ground, her face mashing into the moist earth. I looked around the circle of remaining girls and for a moment I thought that we would have to do this to destroy all of them but, as I moved to inspect the closest girl, she began to claw at her chest, as though what Alice had inflicted on the _real_ Claire was now being done to her. Each and every girl was doing the same; they clawed at their chests and started to scream in one, long drone. Within seconds each one of them had vanished. They each exploded in a huge burst of white light and all that remained of them was the original Claire, lying motionless in the mud.

Alice dashed to Jasper's side as though nothing had happened and she stroked his face once, tracing the scar above his eyebrow and then the one above his lips. He looked at her once and he seemed to relax slightly. That's when he started to scream.

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	9. Gone

**Gone**

Alice fell back slightly as Jasper opened his mouth for the third time, screaming and yelling at the top of his voice. Emmett had also moved back, he was no longer holding Jasper down and so Jasper was rolling around on the lawn, pummelling his fists into the mud and ripping at his tousled golden hair. Alice stood up and hovered over him like an anxious cat near water, "Jazz?" she held out her hand as if to touch him but quickly pulled it back when he screamed again, "Carlisle? What's happening?!"

Carlisle was standing next to Jasper, as were Edward, Rose, Emmett and I and he knelt down to inspect Jasper as he spoke, "I – I think its leaving his system"

Edward spoke up, "The venom?"

"Yes. I think, that by killing Claire, the venom has somehow decreased in strength"

Alice knelt beside Carlisle and grasped Jasper's hand in hers. She turned it over and gasped when she saw his forearm. The blue ooze was nowhere to be seen and his arm looked almost healed, in fact it looked too healthy, almost… alive.

"My God", Carlisle was whispering as Jasper had now stopped screaming and was just lying there; now and then he would twitch and his muscles would contract, causing his breathing to increase and causing Alice to flinch. Carlisle lifted Jasper's arm to inspect it closer and, as he did so, I could smell the rich blood that was coursing through it, I could see the full veins beneath his skin and I could hear the fluent, heavy pulse beating inside. The veins continued up his forearm all the way to his elbow, but, above his elbow, his skin remained the pale, stone-like way it had always been, the way it was _supposed_ to be. Alice traced the veins beneath his skin and the scars across his forearm. The scars looked different to how they normally looked, they looked… fresh; some were deep red, others looked like open tears in his flesh. Jasper sucked in a quick intake of breath as Alice touched one of the more fresh-looking scars and she immediately stopped touching him. His eyes seemed to have come into focus and he started to get up; he sat up, resting himself on his elbows in the grass.

"Jasper?" Carlisle looked concerned and wary, as though Jasper were a bomb that would explode at any moment, "How do you feel?"

Jasper cleared his throat and I had to strain to understand him through his disjointed Texan accent, "I-I'm okay I think", he looked towards Alice and he quickly embraced her, perching her on his lap, I could almost hear Alice relax into his arms as he spoke, "Why aren't I dead?"

"She didn't have long enough to bite you", Alice's voice was getting chirpier by the minute.

"And this?" Jasper raised his 'living' forearm, "Is this permanent?"

Carlisle answered him, "I don't know. But what I _do_ know is that when Alice killed Claire the venom in your body became weaker, somehow the venom is attached to whoever injected it and once they are destroyed it leaves the victim's body"

Alice's voice was muffled against Jasper's chest when she spoke, "But his arm _will _be okay right Carlisle?"

"I think so. It could be taking longer because that's where she bit him; I think it will heal in time"

"Good", Jasper touched one of the open wounds on his pink arm and flinched, "Because it hurts like hell"

Emmett's booming laugh made me jump as he slapped Jasper on the back, almost making him fall on top of Alice, "Poor Jazzy, beaten by a _girl_". Alice growled quietly and Jasper leapt to his feet and started to chase Emmett round the garden.

I sighed and entwined my fingers with Edward's. We sat on the grass beside Alice and Rose joined us, laughing now and then when Jasper leapt on Emmett's back like a cat catching a really big field mouse. Emmett managed to get Jasper off each time though; he simply grabbed both of Jasper's arms (causing Jasper to holler like he'd caught his foot in a bear trap) and threw Jasper to the ground. Alice finally broke up the tousle by dragging Jasper by his good arm into the woods, probably for some recreational hunting. Carlisle also went into the woods but I knew that he wasn't going for recreational purposes; he was going to bury Claire's body, he was too humane to simply leave it lying in the grass, staring blindly into space.

Rose moved to her feet and she and Emmett darted across the stream in the same direction as Alice and Jasper, leaving Edward and I to lie in the grass and watch the sun move across the sky and finally sink below the horizon.

We'd been lying there, staring into each other's eyes for an unimaginable amount of time. It was strange; I couldn't remember exactly how long we'd been there, time seemed to have disappeared altogether after the huge silver moon had emerged from behind the clouds. Edward suddenly bolted to his feet, pulling me with him. His eyebrows were knitted together in the middle of his eyes and his lips were in a tight line across his face. I clasped his face in my hands and whispered to him,

"What's wrong?"

"I can't hear Renesmee"

"Maybe she's just asleep"

"No Bella, I can't _hear _her! Her thoughts aren't there!"

I dropped my hands from his face and darted into the huge white house. I immediately smelt blood; it wasn't the usual tempting aroma of humans but it was close enough to it that I knew who it belonged to. Jacob. I flew into the dining room and almost tripped over one of the upturned chairs. The dining table looked as though it had been torn in half like a giant piece of paper and most of the chairs were either lying in splinters on the floor or lying on their sides. I scanned the room for Renesmee but couldn't see her anywhere, I did, however, spot Jake. He was lying under the smashed table; his arms were splayed out in front of him and one of his legs was bleeding, his shin bone was jutting out of his flesh. I picked up one half of the table and tossed it aside and then lifted Jake up and lay him on the snow-white couch in the lounge. Edward dashed upstairs to look for Renesmee whilst I shook Jake furiously to wake him up.

Jake finally began to open his eyes after three agonising minutes, by which time Edward had come to the conclusion that Renesmee was nowhere to be seen and Esme had leapt out of her bedroom window and headed south. Jake propped himself up on his elbow and shook his head a few times. He then looked as though he suddenly remembered something and started to get up before realising his leg was in no fit state to be walked on.

"Where is she?" his deep brown eyes flicked about the room manically, "Where is she?!"

Edward answered, "She's not here Jake. Where did she go?"

"She-she, I don't know", Jake's head flopped forward and he began to shake furiously. I put my hand on his to calm him down and forced my voice to remain even,

"Jake", I lifted his chin with my hand, "What happened?"

"_They_ came, the werewolves. The leader, Adam, he held me back with his gift thing and all of the furniture started flying about. He broke my leg and knocked me out"

I spoke again, more urgent this time, "Why didn't we hear any of this Jake?" I looked to Edward who looked just as confused as I felt, "We were just in the garden"

"That Elliot kid, he said he'd 'take care of you two', that you 'wouldn't even know they were here'"

"So Renesmee ran right? She got away?" I was becoming hysterical but I didn't care. I needed to know where Renesmee was, "Where is Renesmee Jacob?!"

"She's gone. They took her"

**Duhn Duhn Duuuhhnnn**

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	10. Shield

**Shield**

_She's gone. They took her. She's gone. They took her. She's gone. They took her. _Jake's words reverberated around my mind like a wasp locked in a jam jar. _She's gone. They took her._

Jake and I were in the lounge; he was lying across the now slightly blood-stained couch and I was standing next to the window, leaning my palm against the glass. Edward was outside walking along the tree line trying to catch the scent of the werewolves but he kept moving over the same place over and over again, as though he couldn't quite catch the correct scent.

I heard something crunch slightly, like someone twisting bubble wrap between their hands, and I realised it was Jake rolling over on the couch. I turned around to see him staring into my eyes with a look of pure torture; the fact that Renesmee was gone must have been ten times worse than the pain in his leg. He swung his legs around and sat upright. The bone in his shin was no longer penetrating the flesh, it was beginning to heal, but the surrounding skin was still raw and bleeding and when he moved a little more of the red stuff seeped onto his leg and dribbled to the floor. He winced and spoke in a deep, gravelly tone, "Bella. We have to go find her, _now_". I frowned for a second; did he actually think I didn't know that? What did he think Edward was doing right now? My voice came out clipped and abrupt, "We're trying Jacob! Don't you think we're trying to find her?!"

"But they could be doing _anything_ to her! She could be dea-"

I cut him off by grabbing his shirt collar and picking him up off the sofa and I spoke through gritted teeth, "Don't you say that Jake! We're going to find her!" I glared into his pained eyes and was about to shout at him some more to vent my anger when Edward walked in. I dropped Jake back onto the couch and heard something crack inside of him as I did so. But I had no time for apologies. Edward looked alert, prepared, and I took this fact and wrapped it around myself like a comfort blanket; Edward knew what to do, he would find Renesmee.

Edward spoke quickly; he voice was a mere breath of air, "I've found the scent, they moved north, up into the mountains. Carlisle met up with Esme, she's okay and the rest of the family are on their way back now. We'll go north once they arrive"

Jake attempted to rise to his feet but sat back down once something crunched loudly inside of his leg. I charged past Edward into the garden and tried to figure out which way was north.

"What are you doing Bella?" Edward's velvet tones sounded strained, tired and I turned around to see his perfect features marred into a mask of worry.

"I'm going to find her", I began to march towards the stream and was about to leap over it when Edward grasped my hand,

"You can't go alone"

"Well we can't wait for the others to arrive, the werewolves could have moved by then!"

Edward rubbed my arm gently and spoke to me as though I were a disobedient child, "Bella, they'll be here in a few seconds, it's too dangerous to go alone". As he spoke I heard the rest of our family approaching and we both leapt over the river to meet them.

Esme had already told them what had happened and everyone was already prepared to go after the dogs. We all began running north, towards the mountains where we knew the three remaining werewolves were headed; Esme and Carlisle went east, just in case the wolves had split up and the rest of us continued to fly through the sea of green, following the smell of ripe dog. We ran like a flock of birds would fly; in a formation that seemed to come naturally, not one that was spoken of aloud. Edward took the lead as he was easily the fastest, Emmett and Jasper ran at either side to check the perimeter. Alice was on the inside of the group, next to Jasper and I ran next to her. Rose stayed at the back as she was - but would never admit - the slowest. Alice grasped my hand as we ran and it felt good to know that everyone there was willing to give up their life to save my daughter.

The scent of the werewolves was becoming increasingly stronger as we approached the foot of the mountains and it seemed to encase us, as though we were completely surrounded. We continued to run but we slowed slightly to inspect the surrounding woodland more closely. Alice's hand relaxed slightly as she tried to envision the future but I could see she was becoming more and more frustrated with her lack of sight around the dogs. Jasper held her hand and I could feel the calm radiating off him as he attempted to soothe his wife.

Edward suddenly came to a halt at the front of the group and I could see, through the tree canopy, the steep incline of the mountains ahead. He turned to face us, his face holding a look of confusion, "They're up there", he gestured up the mountain, to a small ledge where a cave invaded the mountain side and I instinctively threw my shield up around us, "Nessie is with them", he looked at me with his golden eyes, "They haven't harmed her". We all stood there for a moment wondering what to do; were we supposed to go up there and kill them off one by one? How did we know if they wouldn't just murder Renesmee before we even reached them? That's when I realised – Alice _could_ know these things, all she needed to do was look.

I let go of her hand and turned to face her, "Alice, do you think you could try and see what would happen with a few different scenarios?"

Alice nodded and closed her eyes, frowning, "I'll try and see what happens with each of our ideas", she smiled slightly as the first scenario played in front of her eyes, "Emmett, we don't have machine guns". I saw Emmett frown slightly as his plan was foiled.

Alice continued to frown and gaze into the future and for a moment I thought that we could do it, we _could_ save Nessie. That's when I felt it. Something extremely powerful was tearing at my shield. I tried to push it away but it continued to scratch and tear away at the shield. It seemed to be concentrating on the area where Alice was and I fought vigorously against it. Jasper turned to me with a worried look on his face; he could obviously feel my confusion and worry. The clawing and tearing continued, it was getting stronger, it was like tendrils wrapping themselves around where Alice was standing and then tugging at that area with so much force that I felt as though I might explode with the pressure. Alice was still blissfully unaware; she had her eyes closed and was running through our ideas to see whose would work best against the werewolves and the rest of my family, bar Jasper, were watching her intently.

Jasper spoke up as another slash was bestowed upon my shield, "Bella?"

I fell to my knees as another blow, stronger this time, hit my shield. Edward briskly moved to my side and I felt his arms holding me as I knelt on the moist earth. The blows were coming faster now, continuously pounding the invisible shield around Alice and knocking the breath out of me with each hit. Alice had stopped trying to see the future and was instead kneeling down beside me; she placed her tiny hand on mine and spoke quietly, "Bella? What's wrong?"

A final, mighty blow hit the shield around Alice and I couldn't hold on any longer, it was like I'd been struck by lightening and for a moment the world went black. As my sight returned I glanced around to see exactly the same scene as I had when the lightening had struck; Edward was still holding me and Alice was still kneeling beside me, holding my hand. She looked worried but unharmed.

Edward gazed intently into my eyes, "Bella, what happened?"

I was about to answer when I suddenly felt my chest implode, at least that's what it felt like. My hand instinctively rose to my chest and I stopped breathing as I felt my shield contort and twist. I could feel it reshaping but I couldn't control it. It seemed to be moulding itself into another form; I searched my subconscious and I could still feel my family's presence inside the shield, except now someone was missing, someone was outside of the shield.

I gasped once and spoke, almost silently, "Alice".

**Thanks for all the reviews so far!**

**Keep telling me what you think!**

**Also, I was thinking about doing some more 'Cullen Couples' one-shots but this time from the male's POV, what do you think?**

**Anyway… find out if Alice is okay in the next chapter!**

**:) xx**


	11. Breakthrough

**Breakthrough**

I tried manically to conceal Alice inside of my shield again but, each time I tried, something else seemed to be encasing her instead. I could feel the outside source wrapping around Alice like a giant hand; it curled its invisible fingers around her tiny frame and enclosed her in an impenetrable seal. All of this happened within a matter of seconds, everyone was still gathered around me as I knelt on the moist ground. Jasper had moved slightly closer to Alice when I had spoken her name and he looked even more worried than I felt.

I swiftly moved back onto my feet and stepped towards Alice, "Alice? Are you okay?"

She looked totally confused and glanced once at Jasper before answering in her chime-like voice, "Bella, I'm fine. Are _you_ oka-", she stopped mid sentence and her eyes glazed over as though she was watching something miles away.

"Alice?" Jasper held her shoulders gently as Alice began to regain her focus, "What did you see?"

Alice's tiny black eyebrows pinched together slightly, forming a small crease on her otherwise porcelain face, "I saw-", her eyes seemed to zone out again and a fraction of a second later they refocused back onto Jasper's face. She whispered, "The werewolves, they're attacking"

Edward and Emmett immediately tensed and glanced around the surrounding woodland as Jasper asked Alice, "How soon?"

Alice pursed her lips, "I don't know", once again her eyes lost focus and she began to see the images of our future. Her voice came out weak, almost choked, "Now".

Alice's golden eyes went blank again, _like the eyes of the dead_ I thought, and she lost her balance and flopped forward like a ragdoll. Jasper caught her with the arm Claire had bitten and, although it was almost back to its usual marble state, he winced slightly as her tiny, limp body slumped over and he shook her slightly as he spoke, "Alice?! What is it?" He looked to Edward with faded crimson eyes and hissed through gritted teeth, "What's happening?!"

Edward leant forward to touch his fragile-looking sister and, as he did so, Alice's eyes opened wide and her lips moved in one brisk motion, "Its Elliot", she gasped, "he knows my desire". She scrunched her eyes shut and grasped her spiky hair with both hands, "It's too much!" Alice started to scream, obviously in pain, "I don't want to see anymore!"

Alice whimpered as she huddled in Jasper's arms; now and then she would scream and Jasper would hold her closer, hugging her to his chest. The rest of us stood around them, feeling totally useless. I started to think that we'd never be able to save Nessie; the werewolves would murder her, perhaps tear her to pieces, and I would have to stand and watch, that's if I lived that long.

I suddenly felt a change in the atmosphere, something was moving through the dense forest towards us, it smelt like wet dog and death all mixed into one. That's when I saw him. Elliot. His long blonde hair shimmered in the moonlight and he stood with his arms folded across his slim yet muscular chest, which was bare and which seemed to glisten slightly in the moon's rays. He glanced towards Alice and smirked, the grin spread across his face like a drop of ink moving in water: smooth and slimy. Alice curled tighter into a ball, gripping her knees with her fragile hands and she started to rock slightly; she looked exactly how I'd imagined she would look when she was forced into the asylum when she was human: weak and pitiful. Jasper growled deeply and shouted from his place on the ground, "What have you done to her you dog?!"

Elliot looked shocked for a moment, as though he hadn't done anything wrong and then he spoke in a polite tone, looking down at Jasper as though he were a child that didn't understand something trivial, "I granted her her deepest desire, just like I did for you. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy the taste of the young girl you drank"

Jasper growled and hissed through his bared teeth, "She was innocent!"

"Yes, well, sacrifices must be made in order to succeed", Elliot flicked a lose strand of hair behind his shoulder.

Edward moved towards Elliot and poked him hard in the chest, causing the wolf to stumble backwards slightly. Edward spoke in a controlled voice, "What was Alice's desire?"

Elliot brushed himself down as though Edward had crumpled his non-existent shirt, "She wanted to be able to see us, the Children of the Moon, more clearly"

Edward frowned, "And that's it?"

Elliot looked at Edward through large, pale eyes, "Well, not exactly. She also felt guilty for not seeing the blonde's-", he gestured towards Jasper, "-mistake, shall we say. And so I granted her the ability to see _all_ of your futures at once. Perhaps it was a little _too_ much"

Jasper started to get up but Alice screamed louder than ever and he was forced to sit back down and comfort her.

Elliot looked around the circle that made up most of my family and started to speak as though he hadn't said anything yet, "Good evenin'", his Texan drawl skimmed across my flesh like a snake. He looked into each face and eventually rested his sinister eyes on Emmett, "You, the big one, you look like fun"

Emmett flexed his biceps and grinned, showing all of his teeth, "You have no idea"

"Yes", Elliot closed his eyes as he spoke, "A desire to fight and more importantly, to _win_", he opened his eyes, "Well, why should I do all of the work when a big, lumbering idiot like you could do it for me?" Elliot grinned, showing his sparkling teeth. I suddenly felt weak, as though someone had reached inside of me and started to squeeze my heart, knocking the breath out of me. I felt that familiar hand seeping through my shield and start to wrap its strong, invisible claws around Emmett. I tried to push it back with my shield but it was even stronger than it had been when it had attacked Alice. It completely closed around Emmett, figuratively suffocating him. Elliot got Emmett's attention and then gestured towards Edward. The wolf spoke in a powerful voice that seemed to ring in my ears long after he'd spoken, "Start with the mind reader"

**A short chapter I know, but it needed to end there, on that cliff hanger**

**Please respond to my question at the end of chapter 10**

**And… more action to come: see if they manage to rescue Renesmee, and more importantly to most of you, see what happens to Edward!!**

**:) xx**


	12. Need

**Need**

Emmett scoffed, "As if I would let you control me, you stupid do-", Emmett suddenly stopped and started to shake his head violently, as though trying to expel a wasp from his mind.

"Emm?" Rosalie started to move forwards, towards Emmett, but she abruptly stopped when Edward spoke, "Rose, don't get too close", Edward looked wary; he kept glancing from Emmett to Elliot.

"Why?" Rosalie's stubborn nature remained intact and she started to walk towards Emmett again, who was continuously shaking his head.

Edward darted in front of Rose, blocking her view of Emmett, and held his arm out, his palm facing Rosalie, "He's not thinking straight, I can't tell if Elliot has control or not", Rosalie peered around Edward to look at a confused Emmett and Edward continued, "He's trying to fight it but Elliot's gaining control", Edward's worried eyes flicked to mine and then widened as Emmett's huge hand closed around his neck. I screamed as Emmett picked up my husband and threw him into the rock face, causing a few of the rocks to break off and skitter down the mountain. Edward got to his feet and held his palms up and started to back away from Emmett as though he were a wild animal. Rosalie moved rapidly in front of a charging Emmett and stood with her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face. Emmett continued barrelling towards her and from below me, on the grass, Alice screeched, "Rose!"

It was too late. Emmett used the back of his stone hand to batter Rosalie out of the way; she flew sideways into a tree, which snapped in half with a thunderous **CRACK!** I could see Jasper struggling to control Emmett's emotional climate as he sat, comforting Alice, and I knew that there was no way a breath of "calm air" from Jasper was going to stop Emmett from killing each and every one of us.

Emmett turned to face me with a hollow expression; there was no denying that Elliot had full control of him as he shot towards me like a torpedo. I heard Edward yell my name from behind Emmett and then, at a speed even _I_ couldn't comprehend, Edward was in front of me, blocking my view of Emmett. Edward pushed me aside and stood, prepared to protect me at any cost. Emmett swung for Edward but Edward managed to dart swiftly out of the way and onto Emmett's back like a deadly monkey. Emmett then started to thrash his arms about, trying desperately to remove Edward from his haunch. Emmett was still thrashing and swinging at Edward when Jasper suddenly stood up, leaving Alice to lie in a ball on the soggy grass, still whimpering and rocking from side to side. Jasper walked up to me and touched my shoulder, something that he had never done, even when he knew I was no longer a temptation, "Bella, could you look after Alice please"

I stared into his ruby red eyes for a moment and then nodded as he marched off in the direction of Elliot.

I sat down in the damp grass next to Alice and watched as Emmett continued to run around like a raging bull, clawing at his back. I watched as Edward clung to the raging bull with little effort. I watched as Rosalie stood in the shelter of the trees watching her husband trying to kill her brother. I watched as Alice sobbed without tears on the ground beside me and I watched as Jasper walked up to Elliot with a determination I had never seen before.

I heard Jasper's crisp voice clearly even though he was at least twenty feet away from me, he spoke to Elliot in a demanding tone and Elliot moved back slightly as though Jasper's voice could actually harm him. Jasper began with a hint of a smile in his voice, "You use people's desires against them, is that right?"

Elliot smirked and straightened himself as he spoke, "Yes, that's right"

"That's how you made me murder that girl?"

"Yes"

"And that's how you've made Emmett attack my family?"

"Yes"

Jasper's voice turned into a snarl, "And that's how you've hurt _Alice_?"

Elliot cleared his throat, "Yes"

"And this _gift_ of yours, it only works with the most powerful desire we have at the time?"

"That's right. I'm afraid I can only see the surface desire"

Jasper clasped his hands behind his back, a habit he'd picked up from his army days, and he leaned in to Elliot's face, so that he was almost touching his neck with his teeth, "Then why don't you force _my_ desire right now?"

Elliot scoffed and waved his arm in a gesture towards both Emmett and Alice, "Why? I've already seen your desire and I'm having so much fun with these two"

Jasper leaned back from the dog, to a more acceptable distance, "But my desire has changed"

"Really? That _could _be interesting" Elliot played absentmindedly with his long hair and then smiled a huge, false smile at Jasper, "Okay, let's see what you want this time"

I saw Elliot close his eyes and then frown; he looked as though he was contemplating something and then his eyes shot open, "Interesting"

I suddenly felt the urge to be excited, I didn't know why but I suddenly felt happy, as though the past few days had been a bad dream and now I was free of all worries. I soon realised that Jasper was causing this feeling; he was trying to make Elliot feel joyous, excited and carefree. I saw Elliot smile and then he said, in a cheery voice, "Okay bloodsucker, let your desire take over!"

Jasper's eyes suddenly glazed over and he looked as though he might faint; he staggered slightly and then stood up straight, staring at Elliot. The feeling of excitement and joy was fading rapidly and I saw Elliot's features change in an instant; he suddenly looked shocked and terrified.

"No! No!" Elliot was starting to scream at Jasper, "Stop! Stop it!"

Jasper continued to stare blankly at Elliot and then he sprung at the dog like a jaguar. Jasper knocked Elliot to the ground and started to tear pieces of flesh from him; he ripped at his face with his teeth and tore at his chest with his hands, eventually leaving a bloody mess of what used to be a man.

Beside me Alice sat up, her eyes were bright and she looked alert, back to her usual self again. Behind us I heard Edward jump off Emmett's back and land softly in the grass before patting Emmett on the back once. Jasper had already picked Alice up and she had wrapped her legs around his waist like a small child. Rosalie walked sheepishly up to Emmett and he picked her up in his arms and kissed her passionately; I heard him whisper "sorry" a few times before placing her back on her feet. Edward stepped beside me and looped his arm around my waist before speaking to Jasper, "That was very good"

Jasper nuzzled Alice's spiky hair and spoke with clear satisfaction, "My desire was to destroy him for hurting Alice". Alice hugged him tighter and practically chirped with joy,

"Who could resist giving in when they were _that_ happy?"

I saw Jasper give Alice a wry smile and for a moment I felt like everything _had_ been a bad dream, that everything was fine. That's when I realised Renesmee was still with that dog up the mountain.

I grasped Edward's hand tightly in my own and spoke abruptly, immediately ruining the moment, "We need to save Renesmee. Now"

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	13. To The Death

**To The Death**

Edward grasped my hand tightly as we looked up towards the cave nestled in the side of the mountain. I could smell the filthy dog from where we were standing and I could also smell the fear of my daughter; it made my blood boil and my skin crawl as I thought about what Adam might be doing to her.

"They're coming", Edward stiffened beside me and gripped my hand tighter as we watched Adam and Leon leap swiftly down the cliff face as though it was nothing more than walking down the street. Nessie was nowhere to be seen. Adam leapt across the final boulder and looked into my eyes with a smugness that made them glaze over with fury.

"Where is my daughter?" I spat through my teeth and Edward had to restrain me before I leapt forward and tore Adam's throat out.

The dog swept his long dark hair behind his back and raised a smug eyebrow, "She's safe".

"Safe?" My hands balled into fists, "Give her back to me, now!"

Adam shook his head, "Sorry, no can do", beside me Edward growled and Adam moved uneasily on his feet before continuing, "She's ours now and we'll dispose of her properly".

I couldn't understand how he could be so laid back about murdering my daughter, he made me furious and at that moment I wished that Jasper hadn't killed Elliot, I wanted my desire to destroy Adam to be let free. I stepped forward, past Edward's restraint, and glared into the filthy dog's dark eyes,

"I'm going to have to kill you, you know that right?"

He simply laughed and gestured for Leon to step forward. The red head strode towards my family, taking long strides as his large frame cast a shadow against the dewy grass. I instinctively threw my shield up around the six of us and hoped that Leon was simply a brute, with no extra powers. I saw Emmett out of the corner of my eye; he stood up straighter and moved in front of Rosalie, Jasper did the same. We stood there for a few moments and waited for the dogs to make their move.

Suddenly Adam looked up towards the sky and smiled, showing his gleaming teeth. The moon broke through the clouds like a giant white face and it shone down on us with a light that made the vampires present look like ghosts. The light seemed to dance off of the werewolves' skin like the sun did with ours; it made Adam's evil face look even more sinister, like an unused clown mask with hollow eyes.

Both Adam and Leon breathed in heavily and Leon spoke with a fixed grin on his face, "Its party time!"

My family stepped back as Leon and Adam dropped to the floor; they started to writhe around, not unlike what Jasper had been doing near the house, and they each began tearing at their skin like it was a separate entity that needed to be removed. Leon's flesh began to drop off of him in large clumps that slapped to the ground around him and a thick, red hair began to spread across his body like fire. Adam tore his skin away like shreds of cotton and they each stretched as their arms snapped noisily as they lengthened into long, thin front legs. Their legs did the same, as did their faces. Their noses cracked and their jaws loosened as their faces became sharp, pointed snouts.

Finally the wolves stood up on all fours; they were as tall as Jacob and his pack but they had longer legs and smaller bodies that somehow made them look more dangerous, as though they could tear you apart with a swipe of their claws. Adam was the taller of the two; he had long, lank dark fur that hung down his thin legs like spider webs and his eyes were a scarlet red that looked impossibly bright. He leaned forward, dipping his narrow head and bearing his sharp yellow teeth at Edward and then, with a sound like cracking paint, he spoke,

"Okay vampire, let's see what you've got".

Adam launched himself at Edward and he only just managed to manoeuvre out of the way and miss the wolf's long talons that swiped through the air. Edward growled and sprang at the huge wolf like a lion catching a gazelle; he leapt onto Adam's back and began tearing at his fur vigorously.

Meanwhile the other wolf, Leon, was circling Rose and Emmett; Leon was shorter than Adam but he was built sturdier, like a very large pitbull terrier, and he moved with such power that the ground beneath us trembled with every step. Emmett looked towards Alice and Jasper and nodded and then he turned to me,

"Bella, go get Nessie, Rose and I can deal with the mutt!"

I nodded and followed Alice and Jasper as they flitted from stone to stone up the side of the cliff. We reached the cave in a matter of seconds and there, in the dark, damp hole was Renesmee. I embraced her tightly in my arms and she held a firm hand to my face, replaying the last few hours for me. I saw glimpses of Adam and Elliot and Leon and I saw Renesmee struggling to move as Adam held her down with his power. Then I watched as the scene changed into flashes of Jake and I lifted her hand away from my face,

"Its okay, he's fine. You'll see him soon".

Nessie smiled and followed us as we ran back down the rocks towards our family.

I watched as Rosalie was suddenly thrown into Emmett by the red wolf and I listened as Leon laughed an inhuman laugh through snarling fangs. Nessie suddenly gasped and I followed her gaze towards Edward who was pinned to the ground beneath the large black wolf. Adam's snarling mouth was dripping with saliva and he was licking his lips with a long dark tongue as he spoke,

"Stupid bloodsucker, doesn't know when to stop", the voice sounded like sand rushing over rocks and it felt so unnatural coming out of the wolf's mouth, "Now look at your friends as they watch you die".

Everything happened so fast then. Alice gasped and Jasper darted to her side. Leon batted Emmett to the ground with a large paw. Rosalie screamed. Adam leant in to tear Edward's beautiful face to shreds. And a large, russet coloured smudge flew through the air, knocking Adam into the trees.

I realised a moment later that the blur had been Jacob; he was in wolf form and he was battling Adam ferociously. The rest of the pack was there too; Sam and Embry were tearing into Leon as Emmett and Rosalie held him down and Quil and Seth were circling Jake and Adam, waiting for the opportune moment to help.

This was it. All I could do was stand and watch as the most important people in my life fought for their lives. I prayed that no one would get hurt.

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**Next chapter is the final one :)**


	14. Silence

**Silence**

I held Renesmee tight against my body as we watched Jake tearing at Adam's flesh; the russet wolf was using his teeth to pull chunks of flesh from Adam's bony shoulders and the black wolf was howling in pain. Suddenly the clearing where we were standing went dark and everything turned a murky grey. I looked up into the sky to see that the moon had gone behind the clouds and only the dim glow remained.

The two wolves that were trying to kill my family and friends suddenly stopped and stood up on their hind legs; the fur seemed to drift away from their bodies and their limbs and faces shrunk back to normal. They once again looked human but their eyes remained a bright crimson that pierced me sharply.

Edward stepped forward and spoke to Adam, "If you leave now and promise never to return then we will spare your lives".

I heard Emmett groan slightly, he was prepared for a fight and would probably feel disappointed if the wolves agreed to leave. Of course I knew they never would. They wanted my daughter dead and if that meant sacrificing themselves to do so then that was a price they were probably willing to pay.

Beside me Nessie shuddered and Alice and Jasper came to stand beside us, followed by Rosalie and Emmett. Edward remained in front of us and Jacob's pack stood behind Leon and Adam in case they felt like bolting. I made sure that my shield encased both my family and Jake's.

This time Adam spoke up; he stared at Nessie as he spoke, "She's not _right_, it's not natural. She's a threat to the humans, surely you can see that?"

Edward's lips pulled back from his teeth and I could hear a low growl forming in his chest, "You're not taking her from us. And if you do wish to continue this pitiful fight then it will be to the death".

I felt those prying fingers clawing at my shield once again. They were creeping around Edward and the wolves and I could feel them tearing frantically at my invisible protection. Abruptly I was knocked to the ground as the fingers tore my shield open and revealed my loved ones to the danger around us. Edward had time to look at me once, his eyes filled with terror, and then he was being thrown by an invisible force towards the trees. His body spun through the air like a boomerang and slammed into a tall pine tree which snapped in half and thudded to the ground with a thundering _BOOM_.

Renesmee whimpered beside me and I looked towards Jake as his pack prepared to descend upon Adam and Leon. The wolves leapt forward, with their fangs prepared and their claws reaching for the filthy dogs. Jacob was almost on top of Adam when the pack suddenly froze; they hovered in the air like time itself had stopped and all I could do was stand and stare.

Adam tilted his head back and laughed at the sky, the moon was still behind the clouds and everything seemed to be a light shade of grey. When he'd finished cackling he looked back at Renesmee and I and what remained of my family. I threw my shield up once more and hoped that I would be strong enough to hold it together. I glared at Adam ad spat through gritted teeth,

"I am going to tear you to pieces dog".

He laughed, "Correction. You're going to _try_ and tear me to pieces", he smiled, showing his pink gums and he gestured towards Leon, "My friend here hasn't had a chance to try out his little gift on you leeches yet and he'd be very disappointed if he left without getting a turn".

My eyes widened. I hadn't thought about Leon, I'd figured that he just didn't have a gift, unfortunately I was wrong. Edward was at my side in a flash and the seven of us stood waiting for Leon to unleash his power.

He stepped forward, "Don't be scared, I'm just going to take a little tour of your minds. It will be completely pain free. For _me_".

I was immediately in my room back in Phoenix. I blinked a few times and looked around. My photographs were still on my corkboard and the scruffy green rug was still on the floor. I stood up, realising I had been sitting on the bed, and walked over to the mirror that was propped up on my dressing table. I was still me. I mean the vampire me; my eyes were a honey colour, my hair was silky and my skin caught the light in a way no human's could. I touched my lips and brought my hand away, staring at the substance on my fingertips. It was blood.

I stumbled backwards and almost fell over something that was lying on the floor. I looked down to see my mother, Renee, lying in a pool of blood, her _own_ blood. I screamed and fell to my knees beside her. I cradled her blood-smeared head in my arms and cried without tears over the body of my dead mother.

I suddenly felt a light breeze flow through my hair, it felt as though I were outside but I was sitting right there in my room, next to my victim. I held my mother's limp hand and there was the same breeze. It swirled my hair and flowed into my mouth and nostrils with a scent like pine and dog. My body trembled as I remembered Renesmee and the wolves. I was still in the clearing. But how could I be when I was here, staring at my mother?

I stood up and wiped my bloody hands on my jeans; I felt dirty and cold and scared. I threw my shield up around myself in the hope that it would soothe me somehow and then, in a flash of brilliant white light, I was back in the clearing. It felt as though I was floating, like a helium balloon on a string, tethered down by my own frozen body. I could see myself and Nessie standing hand in hand. I could see Edward beside us, along with the rest of my family. And then I saw Leon. His face held a look of pure evil; his eyes were black and he was concentrating on each set of ochre eyes in front if him.

**I know I said this was the last chapter but I've got some good ideas flowing so its gonna be a bit longer :)**

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**More chapters ASAP**


	15. Nightmares

**Nightmares**

My family seemed frozen, like Jake's pack, and I drifted towards them like a ghost of myself. I moved to Rosalie first and touched her hand with my own, which looked transparent as it reached for her. There was another flash of light and I was suddenly standing on an old cobbled street with candle lit street lamps and people with horses and carts trotting by. The day was ending and the sun was just setting so everyone seemed to be heading away from this little street. I saw someone at the end of the street in a long dress with sleek blonde hair and I rushed over to her quickly. It was Rosalie. I immediately knew where and when I was. It was the night she was attacked by Royce and his friends; I could hear them approaching from the other end of the street and I desperately wanted to warn her to run, to get out of there as soon as possible, but I couldn't.

Rosalie was beside me then. She looked into my eyes with bright blue ones of her own, a look of fear etched into her features. She gripped my arm tightly and tears began to trickle down her face in thin lines,

"Bella? Help me Bella! Help me! I'm so scared!"

I opened my mouth to speak but it snapped shut as who I presumed was Royce and his friends turned the corner. Rosalie screamed and tried to run but she fell and cut her hands on the cobbles. The men jogged to a stop beside her and one of them, a man with dark curly hair, gripped Rosalie's arm and flipped her over onto her back. She screamed and started to cry weakly as the men began tearing at her dress. It was like watching a nightmare unfold.

I looked around frantically for someone to help but somehow I knew that it would be no good. I heard a faint whimper from an alley adjacent to the street and stepped into the shadows to investigate. There was a man sitting rocking back and forth on his feet with his arms curled around his knees, he was sobbing quietly.

"Are you okay?" I asked, kneeling down beside him.

"I couldn't save her. She saved me but I couldn't save her!"

I frowned, confused, and placed my hand on his broad shoulders. He looked up, his face puffy from crying and his eyes red and watery. It was Emmett.

I gasped and spoke with a soft tone, like talking to a child, "Emmett? What are you doing here?"

He shook his head briskly, "I don't know Bella. I was in the woods and now I'm here and I can't _save_ her! I could _never _save her!" he sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, "She's my Rose and I couldn't stop them, I couldn't save her!" He buried his head in his hands and continued to shake and sob as I stood up.

"This is a nightmare, it has to be", I was talking to myself, "It's not real".

As I spoke I returned to the clearing; Leon was still staring at my family like they were his next meal and everyone else but Adam were still frozen. I stepped forward and tried to touch Leon but it was like there was some sort of invisible barricade that wouldn't allow me to reach him and so instead I moved towards Alice.

As I stepped towards her my surroundings changed; the grass faded to a dark grey and became solid, the trees faded away to reveal concrete walls and the air seemed to disappear and became clammy and thick. Alice was standing in the corner of the concrete room with her head pressed against the wall.

"The asylum she was in", I spoke aloud but she didn't look round. Instead Alice started to slap her palm against the grey wall and started to bang her head in the same way. She was muttering something under her breath and I moved towards her to listen more carefully.

"So many pictures, _too_ many pictures. I don't want them. Go away! Leave me alone!" She turned to face me and slapped her fist against her forehead with an audible _thunk_. She opened her eyes, which were a blazing emerald green, and she looked at me, completely transfixed for a brief moment, before her eyes glazed over and she began to mumble again.

I began to step away, walking backwards as though Alice had somehow become a feral animal that I couldn't turn my back to. As I walked the ground underneath my feet became loose and I turned to find myself standing in a desert-like landscape. I looked up into the blazing sun and saw Jasper standing in a line with a few other men. His skin didn't glisten in the sunlight and, even though his face was in shadow due to the brimmed hat he was wearing, I could tell he was human.

A tall, broad man with a hat on and a sword strapped to his belt was walking up and down the line of men with his hands behind his back; he stopped in front of Jasper and pushed the blonde in the chest firmly, causing Jasper's hat to fall off and forcing him to stumble back slightly. The man spoke with a broad Texan accent,

"You! You are the traitor among us!"

I watched as Jasper ran his hands through his curly locks and held his hands out, palms up, in front of him, "No Sir! I am not a traitor!"

The broad man shouted this time and pushed Jasper to his knees, "You were told to kill our enemies and you did not! You are a coward and I will not have you in my army!"

"But Sir I –"

"Leave!"

Jasper fumbled through the sand for his hat and watched as the rest of the men rode away on their horses. He looked up into the bright blue sky and yelled a cry of utter defeat.

I turned to walk away and found myself back in the clearing with the wolves and my family. I moved towards Edward and tried to shake him out of his frozen state but my hands passed right through him. I looked into his eyes and the bright white light encased me again; I was still in the clearing but I had moved a few inches. I looked down to see that I was inside Edward's body, as though I actually _was_ Edward.

"_Bella?_" his voice was like an echo in my own mind but it soothed me nonetheless.

"Edward? It's Leon, he's making us see our nightmares or our fears, he-"

"_I know. I can't move but I can still hear their thoughts"_, he sounded strained, like it was a struggle to speak, or even think.

"Are you seeing the nightmares too?" I needed to know if my beloved was suffering the same fate as the rest of my family.

"_Yes. Can't you see? I'm stuck here and I can't help you. This is my nightmare"_.

"How do we stop him? I can't get to him".

I heard Edward sigh and when he spoke his voice sounded further away, "You_ have to do it. You're the only one who will be able to break through and stop him_".

"But I can't! I've tried and I can't!" I was starting to panic.

"_You can do it Bella", _his voice was fading quickly, "_I believe in you…"_ he was gone.

I felt myself return to my own body, my _physical_ body, and I forced my shield out around my family. It felt stronger this time, more like a thick, heavy piece of armour that would protect them from anything, rather than a thin piece of silk slipping around them. I relaxed as I saw Edward grab Renesmee's hand and then my own.

Leon's smug grin faded instantly and he frowned deeply, obviously trying to break through my shield again. This time it didn't work. Emmett and Jasper sprung forward and forced Leon to the ground; I listened as they tore him limb from limb until there was nothing more than a disturbed patch of earth.

"You'll never win bloodsuckers!" Adam shouted, "You can't beat _me_!"

I ground my teeth together as I extended my shield around Jacob's pack and watched as they finished their descent on top of Adam.

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**Next chapter is last one (no, really) :)**


	16. Freedom?

**Freedom?**

I held my breath (not that I needed it anyway) as the wolves ripped and shredded Adam's unsuspecting body. He had no time to react and it was all over in a matter of seconds. When they'd completed their frenzy the pack acknowledged my family and moved silently back into the dark depths of the trees. Jacob padded over to where Renesmee and I were standing and nuzzled his large head against her face, she sighed and relaxed and I let go of her hand, allowing her to run her fingers through Jake's thick fur.

Edward took my hand and pulled me into a tight embrace which lasted for a good two minutes before he finally let me go. He smiled and traced his cold fingers along my cheekbone. I closed my eyes and whispered,

"Are we safe now?"

I heard him sigh and my eyes flickered open to see him smiling. He nodded, "Yes, we're safe, you know I would never have let anything happen to you", he looked towards Renesmee, "_Either_ of you".

I smiled and kissed his hand, "I know".

"Well", Alice's chime-like voice travelled through the air towards us like a physical release, "I think we should go home. I don't see any immediate danger; the werewolves have been-", she scrunched her face up at the two patches of broken earth, "-_eviscerated_ and we're all safe. A good day all round I would say".

Jasper laughed and dived to catch Alice unawares but she stepped to one side and he slammed face first into the wet grass. He was immediately on his feet and grabbing for her again and this time she let him catch her. She sprung towards him and latched onto his back as Emmett and Rosalie made their way out of the clearing. Jake and Nessie followed behind them, Nessie sitting on Jake's back, and Edward and I walked slowly behind.

We seemed to all be walking at a human pace, in no hurry to get home, or anywhere for that matter. We were all safe and uninjured and that was al that mattered. Halfway home Esme and Carlisle caught up with us and walked in-step beside us. I watched as Jasper walked with sudden short bursts of speed, leaping over fallen trees, and I listened as Alice's chirpy laugh echoed around us. Emmett had his arms around Rose's waist and he stared at her divine face as they walked. Renesmee was almost asleep on Jake's back, her head lolling every now and then as he walked with a steady rhythm.

I inhaled the scent of the blossom on the trees and the small violets that grew along the edges of the dirt path; they made me relax and I tried to enjoy the moment. Beside me Edward was looking up as the first colours of morning began to speckle the sky. He held my hand tighter and looked at me with his perfect, porcelain features,

"I love you Bella Cullen", he whispered in my ear causing my head to swim slightly.

I smiled and looked into his rich honeyed eyes, "And I love you Edward Cullen".

The End.

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**I think I'm gonna add some stories to my Cullen Couples fic, so keep a weather eye on the horizon ;)**


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